Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.25.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NWN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 6.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,083,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $82,749,000 after acquiring an additional 131,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 989,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,261,000 after purchasing an additional 16,297 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 860,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,683,000 after purchasing an additional 3,512 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 743,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,571,000 after purchasing an additional 18,669 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 74.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 587,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,437,000 after purchasing an additional 250,025 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NWN stock opened at $51.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.38. Northwest Natural Gas has a 12 month low of $39.29 and a 12 month high of $55.99.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.28 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 67.24%.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE: NWN), commonly known as NW Natural, is a publicly traded energy utility primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company operates an extensive pipeline network spanning thousands of miles across Oregon and southwest Washington. Its core business activities include gas procurement, system operation and maintenance, safety inspections and customer service support.

Dating back to the mid-19th century, Northwest Natural traces its origins to the Portland Gas Light Company, which first illuminated Portland streets with manufactured gas in 1859.